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Monday’s Research Studies Ways to Protect Eyes and Lungs in Space

Expedition 73 kicked off the week exploring how to prevent space-caused vision problems and what happens to the respiratory system in microgravity. The International Space Station residents also worked on combustion research and Earth observation gear, organized food and cargo inventory, and serviced life support systems.

NASA Flight Engineers Mike Fincke and Jonny Kim spent their day studying ways to pull body fluids back toward the feet similar to Earth’s gravity. In space, the headward fluid shifts can lead to health issues including changes to an astronaut’s eye structure and vision. The duo tested a thigh cuff that may pull fluids toward the lower body and keep them there reducing brain and eye pressure. Fincke led the investigation on Monday collecting Kim’s blood pressure and scanning his veins with the Ultrasound 2 device while he wore the thigh cuff. Next, Kim peered into medical imaging gear for an eye exam as doctors on the monitored in real time. Results, may provide simple tools and less-invasive countermeasures to protect future crews travelling to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Station Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineer Alexey Zubritsky, both Roscosmos cosmonauts, wore sensors and nose clips on Monday and exhaled forcefully for a human research experiment to understand how living in space affects respiratory function including lung volume and airflow rate. Afterward, Ryzhikov started a 24-hour blood pressure monitoring session and filled out a questionnaire to document his interactions with international crews and mission controllers. Zubritsky transferred water from the Progress 92 cargo spacecraft into station tanks then took the same international interactions questionnaire as Ryzhikov.

Flight Engineers Zena Cardman of NASA and Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) began their day reorganizing cargo inside the Kibo laboratory module making more stowage space. Cardman then collected food packs from inside the Permanent Multipurpose Module and stowed them inside the Unity module where the station’s galley, or kitchen, is located. Yui called down to Earth and spoke with Japanese elementary, middle, and high school students to talk about science and engineering topics. Finally, he swapped out a camera inside Kibo’s Solid Combustion Experiment Module that studies a how materials burn in weightlessness to improve fire safety on spacecraft.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Oleg Platonov kicked off his shift on life support maintenance replacing the Vozdukh carbon dioxide removal system located inside the Zvezda service module. During the last half of Platonov’s shift, he worked on water transfers and installed a specialized camera to photograph Earth landmarks in a wide variety of wavelengths.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark A. Garcia

Week Wraps on Station With Cardiac Research, Stem Cells, and Eye Checks

Cardiac research, stem cell observations, and eye checks to ensure astronaut health wrapped up the week for the Expedition 73 crew aboard the International Space Station. The orbital residents also continued working on spacesuits and unpacked a pair of resupply ships rounding out their work week.

Doctors continuously study how living in weightlessness affects a crew member’s circulatory system from the heart to the tiniest vessels and blood cells. The station crew is constantly monitored through a variety of devices including electrodes, ultrasounds, and blood pressure cuffs providing insights potentially informing advanced ways to protect astronaut health on future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Station Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineer Alexey Zubritsky, both Roscosmos cosmonauts, continued exploring how blood circulates to and from the smallest vessels in a crew member’s body. The duo once again wore sensors on their forehead, fingers, and toes that monitored blood flowing to their microcirculatory and tissue systems. The medical data may help researchers develop techniques that protect future space crews on long-duration missions and prepare them for the return to Earth’s gravity.

NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim assisted veteran Flight Engineer Mike Fincke from NASA as he treated stem cells inside the Kibo laboratory module’s Life Science Glovebox. Fincke placed the stem cell samples inside the KERMIT fluorescence microscope so scientists could observe how the programmed cells grow and change into heart and brain cells in microgravity. Results may lead to personalized health treatments in space and advanced treatments for heart conditions and degenerative neurological disorders on Earth.

Kim then joined NASA Flight Engineer Zena Cardman as she scanned his eyes in the Columbus laboratory module using standard medical imaging gear found in a doctor’s office on Earth. Cardman first attached electrodes to Kim’s forehead and to the sides of his eyes that sent flashes of light to measure the electrical response of Kim’s retinas. Next, she operated optical gear inside the Harmony module that sent lightwaves into his eyes so doctors on the ground could observes the retina, cornea, and optic nerve in real time. Doctors will use the data to look for and learn how to prevent space-caused vascular structure and functional changes to a crew member’s eyes.

Cardman, Kim and Fincke also took turns servicing spacesuits inside the Quest airlock. The trio removed and installed batteries on the suits and swapped a life support device inside the suit that provides ventilation and cooling during a spacewalk.

Earlier in their shift, Kim and Fincke spent some time unpacking science, supplies, and hardware recently delivered aboard a pair cargo ships. Kim offloaded some of the new life support gear and science experiments packed inside JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) HTV-X1 resupply ship that arrived on Oct. 29.  Fincke continued transferring some of the 11,000 pounds of research and supplies packed inside Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft.

JAXA Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui spent his day primarily on maintenance first inspecting filters inside the Columbus lab’s BioLab research incubator then cleaning the Tranquility module’s ventilation system. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Oleg Platonov also worked throughout the day on maintenance in the station’s Roscosmos segment checking smoke detection equipment and photographing module windows for inspection.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark A. Garcia

Expedition 73 Crew Works Cardiovascular Research and Spacesuits on Thursday

Cardiovascular research and spacesuit maintenance topped the schedule for the Expedition 73 crew aboard the International Space Station on Thursday. The orbital residents studied how living in space affects blood circulation, swapped advanced gear on a spacesuit, and installed a new life support experiment.

NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim spent the first half of his shift in the Columbus laboratory module wearing electrodes scanning his chest with an ultrasound device to help doctors understand how his heart function and structure is adapting to weightlessness. After lunchtime, Kim jogged on the COLBERT treadmill then worked out on the advanced resistive exercise device while wearing a heart rate monitor that recorded his cardiac activity. The data collected throughout the day may inform researchers of the cardiovascular risk astronauts face as NASA and its international partners plan missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, station commander and flight engineer respectively, partnered together exploring how blood circulates to and from the smallest vessels in the human body in microgravity. The duo took turns wearing sensors on their forehead, fingers, and toes to monitor blood flowing to the microcirculatory and tissue systems. Results may help researchers develop techniques to protect long-duration space crews and prepare them for the return to Earth.

Flight Engineers Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke of NASA worked together throughout Thursday servicing a spacesuit inside the Quest airlock. Cardman and Fincke first swapped a life support device inside the suit that provides ventilation and cooling during a spacewalk. Afterward, the pair installed a radio inside the suit that enables communications between spacewalkers, crew members inside the station, and mission controllers on the ground.

JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui spent his day inside the Kibo laboratory module installing a new carbon dioxide removal system delivered aboard the HTV-X1 cargo spacecraft on Oct. 29. The advanced life support technology seeks to demonstrate the efficient removal of carbon dioxide from a spacecraft to promote future Artemis missions to the Moon.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Oleg Platonov started his day wearing sensors and a blood pressure cuff observing how his blood vessel health is affected by weightlessness and radiation. Afterward, he and Ryzhikov took turns pedaling for an hour on the station’s exercise cycle while wearing chest electrodes and a blood pressure cuff for a fitness evaluation.

Daily health monitoring and exercise are essential for astronauts living in microgravity for months or years at a time. The health and research data collected informs strategies to protect future crews on deep space missions.

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Mark A. Garcia

Crew Works Advanced Science Hardware and Conducts Lab Inspections

Space science hardware once again topped the schedule for the Expedition 73 crew aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. Life support and electronics maintenance to keep the orbital outpost in tip-top shape filled the rest of the day for the space lab residents.

Spacecraft humidity removal gear and ultra-high temperature physics were the focus for Flight Engineers Jonny Kim of NASA and Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). Kim installed and activated a new technology demonstration in the Harmony module testing the removal of moisture from a spacecraft’s environment for recycling. Results may advance regenerative life support systems on future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond such due to the inability to resupply crews living and working farther away from Earth. Yui worked in the Kibo laboratory module on the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) processing samples inside the experimental device. ELF uses lasers to safely heat materials to ultra-high temperatures as sensors and cameras measure thermophysical properties difficult to obtain in Earth’s gravity.

NASA Flight Engineer Mike Fincke installed the new Heat Transfer Host 2 fluid physics research hardware inside the Columbus laboratory module. The advanced gear will look at two-phase heat transfer, or condensation when gas turns to liquid, potentially leading to the design of advanced thermal systems for spacecraft carrying humans on deep space missions.

NASA Flight Engineer Zena Cardman spent her day primarily on life support maintenance first transferring fluids inside the Destiny laboratory module. Afterward, she collected airflow measurements and inspected ventilation systems throughout the space station’s U.S. segment with assistance from Kim. Finally, Cardman inspected cables and insulation for signs of corrosion and degradation in the Unity and Harmony modules. At the beginning of her shift, Cardman spent a few minutes swapping samples cassettes inside the Advanced Sample Experiment Processor-4 for an experiment investigating how to manufacture pharmaceuticals off the Earth.

Station Commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos spent most of his shift replacing power supply components inside the Zarya module. He wrapped up his day jogging on the Zvezda service module’s treadmill  for a regularly scheduled space fitness test. Flight Engineer Alexey Zubritsky concentrated on maintenance throughout Tuesday servicing the Elektron oxygen generator in Zvezda and conducting the yearly inspection inside the Roscosmos segment’s modules for moisture, corrosion, or damage. Flight Engineer Oleg Platonov explored how blood circulates to the microcirculatory system, the smallest blood vessels, in a crew member’s limbs using specialized blood pressure cuffs and electrodes.

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Mark A. Garcia

Crew Begins Week Configuring Advanced Physics, Space Tech Demo Hardware

Science hardware was the focus on Monday as the Expedition 73 crew configured foam and material physics research gear and installed a space technology demonstration. Meanwhile, blood circulation studies and cargo operations rounded out the day aboard the International Space Station.

NASA Flight Engineers Mike Fincke and Jonny Kim kicked off their day in the Columbus laboratory module gathering hardware, swapping power cables, and installing foam coarsening samples inside the Fluid Science Laboratory. The investigation may advance applications for Earth and space industries such as food, medicine, firefighting, and more.

Fincke then moved into the Tranquility module and installed the Voyager Flytrap tech demo inside the NanoRacks Bishop airlock. Flytrap will test an inflatable capture bag that could be used to capture orbital debris or sample containers returning from Moon and Mars missions. Flytrap may also promote space mining techniques on small asteroids. The bag will demonstrate its ability to deploy, inflate, and secure space objects while remaining airtight in microgravity.

Kim then took over the NanoRacks airlock operations with NASA Flight Engineer Zena Cardman and configured Bishop for the upcoming Flytrap experiment. Afterward, Cardman closed Bishop’s hatch and depressurized the airlock. Earlier in her shift, Cardman checked out the seating configuration inside the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft as part of standard emergency preparations.

JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui began his shift in the Kibo laboratory module configuring cables and swapping sample hardware inside the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace. The experimental research device uses lasers to safely heat materials to ultra-high temperatures as sensors and cameras measure thermophysical properties difficult to obtain in Earth’s gravity. Yui then moved to the Harmony module and installed a power supply for a spacecraft humidity removal investigation then continued unpacking science and supplies packed in the Cygnus XL cargo craft.

Station Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineer Alexey Zubritsky took turns on Monday wearing specialized cuffs measuring how blood circulates through a cosmonaut’s arm, wrist, and fingers for a Roscosmos circulatory system investigation. Ryzhikov also inspected docking module hatch seals and cleaned vent fans. Zubritsky joined Roscosmos Flight Engineer Oleg Platonov and installed a docking mechanism on the Poisk module where the Progress 92 resupply ship is docked. Platonov later took a fitness test on the Zvezda service module’s treadmill then worked on ventilation system maintenance in the Nauka science module.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark A. Garcia